Dying to Live, Living to Die
by DividedLoyalty
Summary: It was a normal day until Katniss was pulled into the apocalypse by the unfortunate demise of her roommate. Teaming up with Gale, Finnick and the gang, they'll attempt to survive the hordes of walking corpses that terrorise Panem. Thrown together by fate, how will the survivors cope facing the end of the world as they know it? Zombie AU: Rated M for violence and eventual Joniss!
1. Chapter 1: An Ordinary Morning

**Authors Note: **Hey everyone! I'm new to the website so I thought how better to start than with one of my favourite ships (Joniss) with my favourite apocalyptic scenario, zombies! This story will be loosely based in Minnesota though I apologise for any mistakes in American terminology and landmarks, I'm from the great ole' U-of-K so I don't know much about specific American geography/slang! xD

The story may be a bit slow in the beginning, I just wanted to set the scene so the actual zombies don't start until mid-Chapter 3!

Anyway, you guys know the drill, I don't own any of the characters, the idea of zombies or any of the 26 letters I've manipulated for your reading pleasure, so without further interruptions, let's get started! Thanks for reading :P

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><p><em>Beep. Beep. Bee-<em>

Wincing as she cracked open bleary eyes, Katniss dropped her heavy head back onto the pillow and flung her arm out to the side in an attempt to silence her alarm. After failing miserably the first few times and bruising her hand on the bedside table, she finally sat up and rested her hand atop her alarm clock, finally silencing its annoying tone.

_6:30_.

She sighed heavily and shuffled around so that her legs were hanging out of the bed, feet grazing the floor as she swung them absentmindedly, taking the time to look around her small dorm room. The walls were still their same pale yellow; the wardrobes still the same worn oak and the floor still cold to the touch in the early hours of the morning.

The trophies clustered together from the various archery competitions she had won over the years glistened in the morning sun, her bow proudly on display hanging on the wall. She looked over to her roommate's bed and briefly panicked at the lack of her dead-to-the-world roommate only to remember that Delly had been out partying with Gale the night before and probably wouldn't be back until midday.

Sighing to herself, she wandered around the room changing into her sports bra, green tank top and black running pants. She pulled her phone off of the nightstand and checked the weather, deciding to don her blue jacket due to the overhanging gloom of mid-Autumn. Grabbing a breakfast bar off of the side, she put in her headphones and set off out of her dorm block, down the stairs and out of the main entrance.

With 'Radioactive' by Imagine Dragons blaring through her ears, she set out at a gentle pace deciding to take it easy after finally getting through what felt like the longest week of her life. Most of her papers had been due at some point in the week turning her into a bumbling mess stressing about meeting the specific deadlines, and now that they were all over and the weekend could finally begin, she was determine to get the toxins of college education out of her system.

It was a rather crisp October day; the crunch of frosted leaves was audible underfoot as the golden-brown hues of fallen foliage littered the sidewalk. Enduring winds tinged her cheeks red from the cold, her teeth chattering slightly as cold seeped through her sneakers and spread painfully throughout her feet as if she were running barefoot on the chilled ground rather than her feet touching the frozen concrete through the layers of her shoes. The trees, now stoic skeletons having shed their coral blossom, were animated by the perpetual gales; the wind whistling through the bare tendrils of bark.

She was so absorbed in her music and the beauty of mid-late Autumn that she failed to notice the eerie stillness of the street, or the peculiar fact that she hadn't seen one single living soul that morning.

A good half-hour run left her skin flushed with a thin sheen of sweat as she made her way back to the dorm. Pushing open the main door, her stomach lurched in protest, murmuring a startling (and mortifying) gurgling sound flushing her cheeks red with embarrassment. Katniss moved one hand over her mouth as the other came to rest on her abdomen, her face aflame and eyes wide with shock. Looking around though, she found that there was no one at reception and the lobby was still vacant. Knowing that no one had witnessed her bodies' blunder eased her chagrin, and her blush slowly faded as she headed up the stairs to her dorm for some proper breakfast.

_Maybe the receptionist was late today_ she reasoned with herself, though she couldn't shake the hair-raising feeling that things were just a little too quiet...


	2. Chapter 2: Hungover?

**Authors Note: **Hey again! I'm back with Chapter 2, the first few are going to be quick-fire chapters to establish most of the story, then I may or may not slow down a bit for a few updates per week. Action is going to start picking up in the next few chapters, so feel free skip along to the next one should you wish, though this one is important for developing the scene! I hope you've been enjoying it so far, there's plenty of zombie goodness to come! xD

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><p>Checking her phone, she pushed the door to her room open and dialled her home number. Her sister still lived at home with her mother, being a freshman at high school in her home town back in Tennessee. She moved a few states away to Minnesota to study for her Psychology degree in Panem, a small town 20 miles south of Minneapolis, the colleges there being the best to offer her the best college courses. Her sister, alike her mother, wanted to go into the medical field, mending wounds and tending to the sick, but she desired to go deeper than the physical.<p>

After her father's death, a 10-year-old Katniss was left with practically orphaned as her mother succumbed to crippling depression sparked by his demise. She was left to care for her younger sister all on her own, and to wonder if her mother would ever recover. Since being abandoned by the one parent she had left for reasons she couldn't explain, she vowed to uncover the truth behind mental illness so that she could not only help her mother, but others in her position too. After months of research, she could finally reach out to her mother, eventually getting her to eat more than a slice of bread a day. The road to recovery had been long and gruelling, but she managed to not only raise her younger sister for 5 years, but begin to piece together the fragments of her mother that had been left shattered long after her father's death.

She was drawn from her reflection as Prims eager voice sounded through the receiver. "Katniss?" Prim squeaked, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm at her older sister's call. "Heya, Prim! How're y'all?" Her soft southern drawl reappearing as it often did when talking to her family. "We're great, Mom's been showing me how to use Ceder tree bark to treat the flu! You can even use Elm bark salve to treat gunshot wounds, Katniss!" Chuckling at Prims antics, Katniss flopped down onto her bed, munching on some toast she made. "That's great Prim, now if someone ever gets shot you can just run off into the woods and try to find a tree to chop up!"

"It's not like _that_ Katniss, you don't just chop 'em up! You scrape off a teeny tiny but of bark, mix it with some sap and water and hey presto! Why don't they just do that? It'd be so much cheaper than all of this no good expensive, unnatural ju-" Giggling, Katniss cut Prim's endearing ramble short. "Okay, okay kiddo, I was just messin' with ya!"

"Gee, I can just hear all that statements condescending goodness." Prim sarcastically sulked, her pout detectable through the phone. "_Wow,_ look at you usin' big words!" She teased, remembering just how easy it was to rile her younger sister up. Lowering her tone back to normal once again, she went on. "I'm proud of you, y'know. You're pretty much all grown up! And speaking of growing up, got your eye on any boys yet?"

"_Uuugh!_" Prim groaned, "Is that all there is to adult life? Boys? I don't get what's so good about 'em at the moment, they're smelly, they're immature and they're so mean!" she whined, huffing an indignant breath through the receiver. "That'll change; just give it time, kid! You don't have to worry about anythin' like that for a while now."

Just as she finished speaking, Delly kicked open the door and hovered in the doorway. Her blonde hair was dulled and ruffled, her eyes swollen and puffy. Her cheeks were pale and the clothes she wore the night before were unkempt and stained. She looked exhausted.

She looked dead.


	3. Chapter 3: A Not-So-Ordinary Morning

**Authors Note: **Hi again! Thanks for reading this far, I know it's been rather slow but this chapter begins to speed things up ready for the action next time! Feel free to post a review or comment, your feedback is always greatly appreciated! If there's anything you'd like to see in the future or I need to change, put it in a review or PM me and I'll be sure to do/incorporate what I can to the story. Thanks for reading! xD

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><p>"But Kat-"She swiftly hung up before looking down to Delly's almost unconscious form. "Rough night?" She smirked, making her way over to the coffee maker to brew Madge a steaming cup of pure caffeine. "Don't get me started on it." Delly mumbled into her pillow, turning her face to Katniss and, once noticing the smirk Katniss wore, throwing a pillow in her direction. "At least I'm not some square that won't go out partying. You should've been there!"<p>

"Why, so I could get groped by strangers on a dance floor, drink so much that I not only throw up but permanently damage my liver and then end up having sloppy drunken sex with whatever walked in the front door?" She looked down at Delly; though her gaze softened once she saw the state she was in. Sighing, she went on "Del, you should've called me. You know I'd be there no matter what the time was. How did you get here anyway?"

She brought over the stash of junk food hidden in a pillowcase and put it down beside Delly's bed. "I walked."  
>"What? When?" Suddenly concerned, she sat down on the edge of her bed and put the back of her hand to Delly's forehead. "It's ok, I was only at Finnick's so it wasn't too far. Took me ten minutes, it was nothin'" She slurred, slowly falling back into a dreamless slumber.<p>

Katniss shook her head, and made her way over to the fresh coffee, taking a cup for herself and placing the other by Delly's bedside along with a glass of water and some aspirin to help with the hangover she was sure she'd have to nurse over the weekend. Making her way over to the window, she sipped her coffee and pulled back the blinds peering outside.

The street was largely deserted, a stray cat occasionally scarpering across the road at breakneck speed considering there was no danger of being run over by a car. It was quiet too, though the silence was occasionally broken by the loud howls of dogs around the neighbourhood before returning to its disconcerting calm.

She dropped the blind, moving back over to her bed and picking up her phone, dialling Gale to make sure he had gotten home safe. "Hey Katnip!" He chirped, seeming rather enthusiastic for someone that she assumed spent most of the night partying and the rest of the morning slumped over a couch. "You're real peppy, what's gotten into you?" She questioned, though she couldn't stop the smile that spread onto her face from her lifelong best friends happy energy. "Not even a hello? Someone's grumpy this morning!" He chuckled. "Nothin' much, I spent the night at Finnick's."

"So I heard, did you see what happened to Delly? She looks completely smashed." Katniss exclaimed, looking back to the slumbering form of her roommate strewn out across her bed. "No, I spent most of the night with Madge." He stated simply, though he failed to keep the smug out of his voice. "How're things with her?" Gale and Madge have been dating for almost a year now, and being the one that set them up Katniss was very pleased with the results, though sometimes a love-sick Gale was the most annoying kind of Gale.

"They're great Katnip, she's just so… amazing." He sighed wistfully, remaining silent for a moment as he gazed up at the sky thinking back to a certain blonde. "Though I'll be able to tell you all about it in person in a minute, I'm coming round!"  
>"Really? You'd better have-"<p>

"I've got croissants! I stopped over at a Starbucks, it's no biggie Katnip!" He laughed as he ruffled the bag into the receiver. "I'll be round in 20, until we meet again!"  
>"Adios!" Katniss laughed, throwing her phone off to the side hearing the gentle <em>thud<em> as it fell onto her pillow.

_20 minutes to kill._ She thought to herself, settling on reading up on her psychology course. Picking up her worn copy of _The Paradox of Choice_, she began thumbing through the pages at a gentle pace until she heard her roommate stir on the bed beside her. Glancing up from the pages, she chuckled as she saw Delly try to remove her head from the pillow, and ultimately fail. It was then that she noticed that her house mate's skin had taken on a sickeningly pale, discoloured complexion, and the lacerations on her exposed arms became clotted with thick black blood.

She closed her book in alarm, and slowly moved over to Delly's bedside. Upon nearing her, she began to hear guttural groans and grunts as her roommate tried in vain to stand up. "Delly? Are you alright?" The figure stopped moving for a moment, as if processing the whereabouts of the noise, before its head jerked around and her face came into view.

Katniss gasped, covering her mouth with both her hands. The face she saw was not Delly's. Her sunken eyes were so bloodshot they were practically red, her pupils dilated to almost consume her entire iris and the bags below her eyes hung heavily below her lifeless orbs. Her jaw hung open, occasionally twitching every now and again with every involuntary snap of her jaw, chattering her yellowed tinted teeth. Her hands were fixed in a mottled claw-like position, clenching and unclenching with every sudden jerking movement.

Katniss stood there, frozen. Just a moment ago, Delly had been fine. She'd been talking and breathing and… living. Watching the scene in horror, Katniss slowly backed away until her back pressed against the window. The fiend on the bed managed to prop its torso up on its arms, its head snapping to face the shadow obstructing the faint morning glow. It features twisted into a malicious grin, exposing its foul fangs as its murmuring increased tenfold. Crawling over the bed, its arms moved in sudden violent jerking motions as it clawed its way over to the edge, before running out of space and plummeting to the floor, creating a large _thud_ as it slid from the bed.

It would've been comical, hilarious even, had it not been for the fact that the heap on the floor was quickly clambering onto its crooked feet and shambling towards her. Its body was held at an awkward angle, its torso tilted to its left side as its feet faced the opposite direction, one foot in front of the other as it stumbled across the room. Its snarling face twitching in anticipation as it neared the startled girl.

Katniss was snapped out of her introspection as the figure stopped, looked around and snapped its jaws at the air, until its eyes finally came to rest on her features. Seeing this as her opportunity, Katniss lunged forward, shoving the body of her friend away as she rushed to get out of the corner. It seemed to recover much faster than she anticipated, because as she turned to face the apparition, she found herself trapped within the creature's vice-like grip, the sweltering stench of death clinging heavily to her clothes. Resisting the urge to vomit, she brought her knee up into her friend's stomach with such force she lost her own balance as the creature reeled backwards.

"Delly, this isn't funny!" She screeched, desperation dripping from her every move. Delly didn't reply as she lumbered forwards, still attempting to ensnare what used to be her best friend. Katniss squeaked, swerving to the right in a frail attempt at avoiding the incoming charge and ended up having her left arm yanked away, causing her to lose balance and topple to the floor.

Crashing to the floor, she rolled to the side so that she was hovering over Delly, pinning her hands above her head and trying to avoid the jerking jaws of her former roommate. She looked around, trying to find something to tie her up with, when she heard a knock at the door. "Katniss?" Gale asked, alarm evident in his voice. "You've gotta get out here, something crazy is-"  
>"Not the time Gale, I'm kinda busy at the moment!" she yelped as she doubled her efforts at keeping whatever it was in her room at bay. "I don't care, I'm coming in-" His voice stopped as he witnessed the scene before him. Dropping the now cold bag of croissants, he rushed to Katniss's side.<p>

"Delly?" He inquired. "What the hell is going on, Katniss?" He half-yelled, his voice raising to acclimatise the panic that flooded his veins, adrenaline re-firing after the shock of what he witnessed outside before dashing in to find Katniss.

"I don't know just-help me!" she grunted, her assailant's strength seeming to multiply with each sentence. Gale looked over at the wardrobe seeing a worn leather belt partially hanging out of one of the partially closed draws. Rushing over to it, he whipped the strap out of the draw and set to work tying Delly's hands together. With Katniss's hands now free, she leapt off of the incarnation of her friend and faced Gale. "What's gotten into her?" Katniss shrieked, beginning to pace around the space in her room not occupied by the thrashing body on the floor.

"Katniss, have you looked out the window?" Gale questioned his voice level as if he was trying to restrict the panic rising through his system. "Why? What's out there?"  
>"I think you'd better take a look." Making her way over to the window, her heart stopped.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: Uninterrupted

**Authors Note: **Phew, boy was this fun to write! Things really lift off in this chapter and Katniss finally meets another future member of the group! Next chapter will be a little recuperation and gathering of several characters, but there's probably gonna plenty of action in it too! Thanks for reading :P

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><p>"What are we gonna do?" She yelled, now allowing the extent of her panic to surface. After looking out the window and seeing just how chaotic the streets had managed to get in the time she had been preoccupied with Delly, the number one thing on her mind was escape. "I-I can call Finnick! He's got a range rover, we can ask him to come get-" Gunshots rang out as the screaming from outside intensified, the screech of hundreds of tires racing down the road forming the perfect harmony to the anguished cries of those trapped in the chaos.<p>

Gale made his way over to the door to make sure it was shut, giving them some time to think as he pushed the chair up against the door handle. "Jesus, we're going to have to do something!" Katniss howled, becoming more and more desperate as the thumps from the cupboard where Delly was held intensified. Pausing for a moment, Gale quickly declared "Your bow." pointing to the sleek wood of her recurve bow that rested atop her wall of trophies. "We've gotta pack everything we can and get the hell out of here." He ordered, moving over to grab Katniss's backpack and throwing all of the food (though there was only a small amount-Katniss was in college) he could find inside.

Katniss rushed over and plucked her bow from its fastenings, slinging her 2 quivers over her shoulder as she attempted to arm them both. Picking out the knives from the kitchen drawer, she pulled her father's leather jacket out of the unoccupied wardrobe and an old biker jacket for Gale, pulling on the thick material in the hopes of protecting them from the prying claws of the dead. She pulled the medical bag out of the kitchen cupboard as well as all the leftover food that looked like it could survive a rough journey.

Gale then set to work on making more weapons, snapping off chair legs and fastening them onto his belt for easy access. He pried the nails out of the furniture and hammered them into the stakes using his combat boots he was thankful to have worn that day (even if the reason behind it was because they suited his outfit.) He packed several bottles of water, flashlights and batteries into a small bag, then dumping it into Katniss's much larger hiking pack before pulling it on, giving Katniss the robust daysack which, though it was much lighter, still carried enough necessities for a few days.

Katniss picked up her bow and nocked an arrow onto the bowstring, ready to draw as she looked to Gale and nodded. "Let's do this, Hawthorne." She smiled at him, attempting to lighten the situation. His lips spread into a small grin as he removed the chair from its position underneath the door handle, and burst through the door into the hallway.

Running through the corridors, it all looked the same besides the occasional bloodstain on the wall or floor, and the fact that a few of the dorm rooms had their doors hanging open, the occupants long gone. Making their way down the stairs to the reception area, Gale took his phone out and called Finnick. "Hey Fin? Yeah, it's me; you need to come pick up me and Kat right away. Yeah, get some basic supplies, make sure you're armed and meet us at Peeta's bakery, and make sure Madge and Annie come with you!" Hanging up the phone and securing it in his pants pocket, Gale turned his attention to the front doors as Katniss covered their backs, her bow drawn taught.

"You ready, Katnip?" He asked, bracing his hands on the door handle. She turned around to face the door, happy they weren't being followed. "Ready as I'll ever be." She nodded, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. Gale grinned and pushed open the doors, though his expression sobered when he took in the scene before him.

Those… _things_ were running rampant, shambling after anything breathing and chasing people to their cars stocked haphazardly full of supplies. Some were trying to break into houses while others were distracted by the occasional flaming car that had crashed onto the sidewalk and been hastily abandoned by its owner. Blood splattered in huge puddles across the street with an odd corpse or two littering the concrete, guts and limbs flying all over the place as clusters of the things devoured the dead and dying.

It was chaos.

"Shit! Follow me!" Gale commanded as he took off down the road. Katniss followed shortly after and they made their way through the frenzied streets, leaping over fallen mailboxes and abandoned luggage. Rounding a corner, they came to a stop as they took in the scene before them.

A (what looked to be) 50 car pileup blocked the road, some cars having swerved onto the sidewalk in an attempt to avoid it, but ultimately failing as their vehicles span out of control and only added to the excessive size of the pileup. The corpses shambled over in clusters, trying to work their way into the vacated vehicles, ambling through the shattered glass that lay fragmented on the floor as if it were merely gravel under their bare feet.

They came to a stop as they surveyed their options, they could continue going forward and take a detour around the block to get to the bakery, or they could attempt to make their way through the small alleys that led behind the shops, though the presence of dead corpses trailing down the paths meant that was obviously the more dangerous choice.

Gale's head swept around, taking in the scene, until Katniss proposed that moving forward would be best. Nodding his assent, they took off to round the corner at a slow jog, attempting to avoid drawing too much attention by making unnecessary noise by sprinting.

Katniss looked back, thankful that only one or two of them were now following them, confident that they could outrun the scuffling couple, one of which had its head crooked unnaturally to the side so that its face looked away from the direction its legs were taking it. Katniss shuddered at the sight, its slacked jaw dribbling a foul concoction of drool and blood that she wasn't sure was entirely its own, before turning and running alongside Gale down the much quieter road. There were still some of them trying to get into houses, and in an attempt to help those trapped inside, Gale started hooting and hollering at them so that they would pursue the quickly fleeing couple rather than the idea of the innocents within the houses.

Katniss was confused by what he was doing at first, until she heard the terrified wails of a baby no older than 6 months coming from one of the houses with a small group of them smashing at the front door when she clued into his idea and started throwing loose stones at the backs of their heads, all the while making as much noise as possible. Now that they'd garnered a small congregation of around 11 followers, they picked up the pace in an attempt to evade their undead papparazi, running in zigzags and using the cover of random cars to hide before moving on.

After what felt like years of running, they finally had the bakery in their sights, and were making their way down the sidewalk when one of them lumbered out of a nearby alleyway and grabbed Katniss by the shoulder mid-run. She was pulled backwards, trying desperately to regain her centre of balance as she was dragged into its cold clutches.

She slammed her elbow back, connecting it into her assailant's ribcage with a loud and satisfying thud. The ghoul stumbled backwards from the impact, so Katniss braced herself with her knife ready to lunge for its head. When she turned around, she heard a sickening _crack_ as the rusted head of an axe embedded itself into the skull of her foe.

Thick curdled blood spewed from the wound as chunks of skull and brain flew clung onto Katniss's jacket, the body toppling forward onto its knees until it crumpled over sideways. The axe remained embedded in its skull until its wielder pressed their shin-high black converse boots on the corpses cranium and yanked out the head of the axe, spraying more gore on Katniss's trousers in the process. Finally looking up from the body on the sidewalk, she couldn't contain a small gasp of surprise as she took in her saviour.

Her eyes travelled up the lean body, taking in the now bloodied boots, stained skinny jeans and red flannel shirt covered by a dirtied green Starbucks apron, until they finally came to rest on their face. The woman's' piercing green eyes lined heavily in dark makeup bore into her own; her black hair tied into a messy bun and dishevelled bangs framing her face. Her blood red bandana held back the stray wisps that had become ruffled during the day, the colour matching the bold streak through her hair. Her sleeves were rolled up, exposing toned forearms that flexed and relaxed as she absentmindedly twirled the fire axe.

Katniss's gaze swept over her face, taking in her perfect pointed chin, cutting cheekbones and the mischievous glint behind the strangers green orbs. The woman waited a while, though couldn't resist as her smooth pink lips curled into a satisfied lopsided smirk and she spoke-

"You gonna stand there and ogle me all day, brainless?"


	5. Chapter 5: The Frying-pan Effect

**Authors Note: **Just a quick little thank you for reading and supporting the story this far, it really is a great fun to write! This chapter is a bit slower, though it has plenty of suspenseful zombie action and quite a lot of sassy Johanna before we take things to the extreme in the next few chapters! Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review or PM me and enjoy! xD

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><p>"Katniss, are you alright?" Gale questioned, running to her side. He picked up her bow and loose arrow that had fallen from her grasp when she was grappled by the body now lying on the floor and handed them to her. He looked her over, and after he was satisfied Katniss wasn't in shock, he finally turned to see who the stranger was. "Johanna? What are you doing here?" He asked, relieved to see it was her and not some burly biker after a fight.<p>

The woman (apparently named 'Johanna') briefly turned her attention on Gale before fixing her glare on Katniss once again. As she spoke, she allowed her eyes ample time to roam the ruffled feminine body before her. "Oh, you know, nothing much. Just saving your girlfriend here from whatever these things are." She stated, kicking the body before her to punctuate her point.

"She's not my girlfr-"He stopped himself halfway through his sentence, as if suddenly remembering what it is he wanted to talk about. "We don't have time for this, Finnick's meeting us at Peeta's bakery." He turned to go, but the two girls just looked at him before he clarified "Katniss? Johanna? Let's go?" gesturing to the corner bakery a little ways down the street.

They took off as a group, Gale in the front with the girls covering each side, all scanning for danger as they neared the quaint corner store. Their attention was set on looking for external dangers, but after a loud crashing sound resonated from within the bakery, they turned to face the front doors.

Katniss drew her bowstring, Johanna readied her axe and Gale stood off to the side ready to burst through the door. "1…2...3!" Gale threw open the door and the girls flew into the room doing an immediate sweep of the area, until their eyes came to rest on the scene that was causing all the ruckus. A startled Peeta was running around the main desk, trying to evade the woman chasing him and occasionally swatting her away with a frying pan when she got too close. It was so absurd that both Katniss and Gale had to clamp their hands over their mouths to prevent themselves from bursting into fits of laughter, though Johanna freely let a mellow chuckle escape her lips. It was clear that he'd been at this for some time by the furrow in his brow and sheen of sweat upon his features so Johanna, being the kind and merciful soul she was, stepped forward and grabbed the woman by the hair.

She struggled in Johanna's grasp, her arms clawing forwards as she tried to jerk her head away and turn in her grip, jaws gnashing and a constant grousing groan spilling from its rotted lips. Johanna smirked at the woman now held captive in her grasp, and decided that now would be the perfect time to break out into a fit of laughter - whilst holding a rabid, rotting woman by the hair that was quickly detaching from her fetid scalp."Johanna!" Peeta shrieked, putting his hands forward in a sign of surrender as Johanna's laughing fit receded and she pressed the blade of her axe to the figures throat.

"Please…" he whimpered "That's my mom. Please don't kill her." Hanging his head low, he looked up at what once was his mother, now reduced to a struggling mess of flesh and teeth thrashing around and lunging at his classmate.

Her face had been mangled, exposing her bare jawbone and ripped muscle barely attaching her jaw to her face. Her eyes were wild and reddened as they darted around in search of her next victim, nostrils flaring in anticipation. Its shredded shirt clung to the lacerations visible through the thinning fabric, leaving large red blotches where it had soaked up the life of the woman before them.

"Peeta," Katniss started, but was cut off by Johanna's much tougher sentiment. "Look, this may have been your mother some other time, but now she's just a sack of skin and bones."  
>"Johanna please-"Peeta reasoned, though he was hastily interrupted by a swiftly enraging Johanna.<br>"What, you want me to leave her here _alive_? For some poor soul to stumble upon and get ripped to shreds?" With each word, the blade pressed further and further into the neck of the frenzied woman. Johanna's eyes seared over Peeta's face, her expression twisting into one of disgust as she yanked harder on the hair of his deceased mother.

"Your _mom_ might have meant something to you, but all she'll ever be now is a fucking flesh-eating zombie!"  
>"Johanna!" Gale bellowed, his hands balled into fists at his side. The room went silent as Johanna turned towards him, a look of indifference plastered onto her face as she sized him up, calculating his intentions. "We can tie her up and lock her in the closet." He sighed, looking over at Peeta and Johanna to see if it was an adequate compromise. Peeta looked relieved, but Johanna was having none of it. "Why?" she spat, anger once again flaring within her deep green eyes.<br>"It's the best way, Johanna. That way she can't hurt anyone and if there ever is a cure-"Johanna scoffed. "If they ever find a cure," He continued militantly "She can be healed."

Taking a minute to cool off, she decided to bend her will and work on a compromise in the hopes of preventing unneccesary and (quite frankly) pathetic tears threatening to spill from the bakers eyes. "Ok, pretty boy, if it'll shut you up let's throw her in a closet." She chortled, releasing her grip in the woman's hair and throwing her forwards landing in a heap on the carpet. The others stood still, staring at the struggling body on the floor, a look of uneasiness painted on their faces as they expected the corpse to rise again and lunge at them. Johanna looked at them for a moment before scoffing again and rolling her eyes, putting her foot on the its back to guarantee them that it wouldn't jump up and bite their faces off. "What are you doing? Go get some rope or something." She ushered them away with a half-hearted wave of her hand.

They came back a few moments later, Peeta carrying bundles of rope with Katniss and Gale following shortly behind him, one with a pair of handcuffs. Johanna snatched the cords off of Peeta and pocketed the handcuffs, setting to work securing the bonds around his mother's feet, hands and face to keep her jaw clamped shut. When the sounds of her groans finally muffled, she looked up to find the three of them standing around idly staring at her. "Gale said we're meeting Finnick here, so I'd suggest going to pack your things while we've got time, bread boy." She smirked, feeling empowered by the control she had over the situation and the dominance she was able to flaunt.

"You want some help putting her in?" Gale asked, already reaching to take the foot end of the now bound ghoul. "The cupboards under here should do fine." she said, tapping her feet on the vacant cabinets below the counter. She pulled open 2 doors and together they stuffed her inside the small hollow so that her legs and head were bent at unnatural angles. They closed the doors and fastened them shut before moving an old dishwasher in the way to make sure the beast stayed contained.

Grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, Johanna scrawled out a large and bold 'DON'T OPEN DEAD INSIDE' note before plastering it to the washing machine. Shortly after finishing, they heard the distinctive thump of Peeta's footsteps clunking down the stairs, and turned to see him with a jumbo-sized hiking sack appear from the stairwell, a much quieter Katniss in toe. He paced around, occasionally stuffing another miscellaneous item into the oversized pockets until he made his way to the pantry and packed all of the non-perishable food and bottled water he could find into it before making his way back to the others.

"I think I'm all set." He resigned, leaning back against the counter, the ordeal with his 'mother' leaving him exhausted both mentally and physically. He looked over towards the cupboard that held his now deceased parent and sighed. "Well, now we're just waiting on good old Fin." Johanna chippered up, sarcastically peppy even though she too had begun walking around and taking anything of use or value, piling it onto the counter which Peeta began to stuff into the bag. Gale and Katniss saw the exchange, and decided to help search the house too before the others arrived in the range rover. "We'll go search upstairs." Gale declared, dragging Katniss along with him to search Peeta's parents and siblings rooms.

They began packing another moderately-sized bag Gale found in one of Peeta's older brothers rooms, and worked together in a comfortable silence like they often did out hunting in the woods as teens. They took everything from tools, flashlights and binoculars to hygiene products and paperclips, thinking of improvised uses for everyday items and packing accordingly. Finally satisfied with their searching, they headed downstairs and plonked the bag down next to Peeta's much larger, heftier backpack.

"And now we wait, right?" Peeta asked, a slight quiver in his voice explainable by his anxiousness to leave the house his dead mother now ruled from her closet castle. Gale nodded and pulled his phone out, dialling Finnick to see where he was en route to pick them up. He was glad that Finnick's Dad had a range rover with enough seating capacity for Finnick, Annie, Madge and themselves, though it would probably be a squash with the amount of bags they had.

"Hey Fin? Where are you? Yeah, we're at Peeta's bakery." Johanna began to pace around in a small line back and forth as Peeta reclined on the shelves and Katniss sat on one of the desks, her legs swinging and occasionally tapping rhythmically against the wall. "There's 4 of us, we picked up Jo along the way and found Peeta here. Yeah, we've got plenty of supplies." He assured, looking over to the several bags sitting by the side, not to mention the ones he and Katniss carried. "Sure, ok. Just drive safe, alright? And be careful, there's a huge pileup a few roads down. Ok, see ya in 5."

An impregnable pause settled over the 4, as each became absorbed in their own thoughts concerning their family and friends, and how they'd be faring back home. All besides Johanna who concerned herself with looking out of the windows to determine any danger they might be in. After seconds of deliberation, Katniss pulled out her phone and dialled her home number as Gale did the same, both hoping to warn their families about the impending shit storm headed their way, if it wasn't there already.

"Hey Katniss, what's-"  
>"Prim! Ok, I need you to listen to me, and trust me when I say this you and mom need to get somewhere safe."<br>"What? Wh-"  
>"Pack as much food and water as you can, meet up with Gale's family, get down to Fort Campbell and claim asylum, they should be able to let you in." Katniss fired off as fast as possible, fearing the worst if she kept Prim any longer than necessary.<br>"Katniss, how do you know about that? They're evacuating the city, we're packing our things now. We've been told there's a hurricane warning and they're moving us to the bunkers temporarily."

Katniss released the breath she'd been holding at the news that her mother an Prim were going to be safe, but having her 15 year old sister know about the truth of the predicament might complicate the matter so she decided to play along with the lie fabricated by the government to, what she assumed, prevent nation-wide panic.  
>"Yeah, no, that's why you need to get to safety. A big one's coming from the coast, I just saw it on the news and… and wanted to make sure you were safe." Katniss summarised, feeling guilty for lying but evidently happier that she knew her family could survive.<br>"Ok, you stay safe too Katniss, and thanks for checking up on us." Prim smiled, though her concern for her older sister grew after realising that Minnesota would receive the tail end of it and possibly be in for some rough weather.

"Stay safe, I love you Prim." Katniss's expression softened as she smiled wistfully, thinking back to days and nights spent playing in the front lawn with her sister as kids. "Love you too Katniss, bye bye." Hanging up the phone just in time, she heard the range rover come to a halt outside.

"That's our ride." Gale grinned, hefting the largest pack onto his shoulder as he made his way outside, shortly followed by Peeta grabbing the other large bag. "You ready for this, brainless?" Johanna questioned, purposefully using the same insulting nickname she dubbed the woman as earlier. She couldn't remember Gale telling her about his little friend, though with her track record, she could guess why he wouldn't. "I do have a name, y'know." Katniss mumbled, pushing past Johanna and making her way outside. For some reason, her skin began to burn up whenever she was around the mystery and anger that was Johanna, her blush reaching the tips of her ears though thankfully it wasn't very visible due to her olive skinned complexion. Johanna just smiled, already loving the way she could make her scarper so easily. Katniss finally snapped out of her trance as she took in their get away car. The range rover was a sleek dark red with glistening black roof rails attached to the top, already half full with bags and supplies as they loaded their own larger backpacks onto the roof and secured them to the railings with their remaining rope.

Finnick sat in the driver's seat, a smooth young man with sandy blonde hair and sea green eyes, Annie in the passenger seat, her vibrant red hair and jet blue eyes distinguishable from miles away, and Madge, her blonde-haired blue-eyed best female friend, sitting on the left of the rows of 3 behind the 2 in the front. Gale and Johanna clambered into the middle row leaving Katniss and Peeta to sit in the two final seats crammed in with the smaller bags. "Seems like the perfect time for a road trip!" Finnick hollered, garnering a few laughs from the front and a small chuckle from Peeta. Finnick stepped onto the gas and pulled them out onto the now clear road.

Katniss zoned out of the conversation, instead opting to rest her head on the vibrating tinted glass of the backseat window and gaze out at the complacent sun that hung high in the sky. She guessed it was about 1pm, the last 4 hours being easily the scariest of her life since discovering the reincarnated corpse of her roommate and being thrust into the heart of the worlds first 'zombie apocalypse'. Choosing to push the walking dead to the back of her mind (and attempting to ignore the groups of them as they shambled along the sidewalk) Katniss focused on the sky, and let her mind drift to the thought of tomorrow.

An unrealistically zombie-free tomorrow, but it'd have to do for now.


	6. Chapter 6: Hysterics

**Authors Note:** Thanks for all the support for the story so far, it means a great deal to be able to work with some of the feedback you've given, so thank you all so much! xD This starts off with a bit of the international applications of the apocalypse (tryin' out a little World War Z style for the beginning, plus it was a great way to satirically -and bluntly- point out the shortcomings of our beloved politicians), we join the gang for a very heated debate and some full-blown Johanna tantrums!

Next chapter will focus on building the chemistry between the survivors, but feel free to leave your suggestions for directions to take the story, I was hoping to start getting to the good bits a few chapters on after I sow the seeds for some kick-ass Joniss! :P

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><p>Reports of 'zombies' came through thick and thin along the Northwest, that area being the most and first effected by the tides of dead swamping the streets, though many refused to believe it until medical information was available and there had been many accounts of the terrifying goings on. Presidential Advisor Snow set to work immediately, sending out an urgent SOS message to all nations, friend or foe alike, telling them to prepare for the worst. He began to order the closing and termination of all nuclear power plants and for the sources of the power grids energy to come from the newly installed renewable wind turbines, waste incinerators, geothermal hotspots or even the wave power harnessers to prevent some nation-wide radioactive meltdown.<p>

The same reports had also surfaced in Eastern Asia with a few anomalies (most likely from airports) in Europe and Africa. Most nations saw the imminent threat and declared a world-wide ceasefire, though some more volatile countries refused to proclaim their adherence to the global treaty and remained a large target for the operational warheads the US owned.

While the President was left to publicly address the issues, Snow was the brains behind the actual implementation and ordered the immediate evacuation of the Midland states directly under threat and the preparations of those further South. He arranged for the Secretary of Defence, FBI, Home Secretary, the Chief of Staff of the US Military and any organised military ready organisation to strike the affected areas with the help of the air forces providing overhead cover, and the assembly of the Navy in the hopes of evacuating whole cities on the large aircraft carriers with the assistance of the Navy.

He had heard word of just how fast the disease had spread, seeming to crop up overnight as whole towns were laid siege to by the hordes of ravenous undead. Snow wasn't leaving anything to chance, and contacted several other allied nations in the hopes of having them support their military efforts. Press conferences were held in the blink of an eye, and many nations pledged their allegiance, claiming in cringe-worthy statements that 'they could do better together', 'only united could they stand against the undead', 'with the help of their military yada yada yada' and other similar juvenilely cliché proclamations of worldwide 'unity'.

Snow knew better than to trust the empty promises of the politicians only out to save their reputations and make away in their private jets (at the expense of the tax paying public) with their families and years' worth of food, so begrudgingly faced the facts and accepted that the likelihood was they would have to solve their problem themselves. Facing the clamouring streets alone was a treacherous task, but it was much better go it alone than have some so called 'allies' stab you in the back and bomb the streets to oblivion, even though they had been the ones doing the stabbing many-a-times beforehand, during a zombie apocalypse wasn't the best time for karma to bite back.

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><p>"Where are we headed?" Asked Gale, they'd been on the road for a little under half an hour and were still undecided where their destination was. "We can stop over in a minute and take a look at the map, then decide where we'll take it from there." Reasoned Finnick, Annie already pulling a large (what looked to be nation-sized) worn map from under her seat. "I just need to get as far away from home as possible…" he muttered under his breath, and looked over at Annie when she rested her hand on his knee, a comforting smile adorning her face. He returned the smile, albeit a little sombrely, and returned his attention to the road.<p>

The drive was very static, all the while they had to slowly swerve around abandoned vehicles or flaming cars as clothes and random belongings littered the vacant road. Every few minutes they went past a few shambling corpses, sometimes even a small group clustered over something by the side of the road. A couple even tried (and failed) to pursue the car, though they seemed startlingly fast compared to the ambling ones they'd seen in the town.

Silence once again settled over them, Gale and Madge huddled together, Johanna picking at her fingernails with an oversized knife, Katniss still looking out of the window and Peeta facing forward, though his eyes occasionally drifted to observe Katniss once in a while before returning back to the front for fear of being caught staring.

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><p>After another 5 minutes on the road in dense silence until Finnick pulled down a worn country lane off of the highway and parked the car under the cover of the overgrown brush. Turning off the engine, everyone suddenly snapped to attention as they scanned the outside area; everyone besides Johanna who became impatient and swung the door open, stepping down onto the dirt road with an irritated sigh. Finnick and Gale followed suit, then joined by the rest of them as Katniss and Peeta clambered out of the back. Finnick moved over to the hood of the car and sprawled out the map, smoothing down the creases as he took a pencil to mark their location.<p>

They gathered around the map, Gale and Finnick leaning over it to the left side, Peeta occasionally scanning the surroundings whilst the girls leaned on the right side, Annie and Madge talking quietly between them and Johanna sprawled out beside Katniss. "So, we are right about… here" he began as he circled the track off the highway with a pencil. "What do you propose we do?" He shrugged, retreating away from the leading position.

"Whatever is happening could just be happening here" Madge supplied "We could just wait it out somewhere." She looked to the ground scuffing the dirt with the toe of her ankle high boots. Johanna scoffed. "Oh yeah, why don't we just _wait_ to have our asses handed to us by the living dead. We could even invite them in for a tea party, I'm _sure_ that if we reason with them they won't rip off our fucking faces!"  
>"Johanna, cool it. It was just a suggestion." Finnick reasoned. Truth be told there was no need for her hostility, if she didn't want to wait it out she could've just said she didn't think it was a good idea. "If you think you know everything, why don't you suggest a plan?" Gale intervened, moving his arm possessively around Madge's waist bringing her closer to him.<p>

Johanna merely laughed. A high-pitched, sarcastic chortle before her smirk dropped and she returned her face to its impassive state so fast you'd have missed it if you blinked. Moving over to the map, she barged her way in between Gale and Finnick and splayed her hands out over the corners of the map. "Well, the cities are gonna be chaos and the highways are definitely going to be clogged, so if we take the minor routes up North West passing through small towns on the way to stock up, we can head to the border and jump over into Winnipeg."

Peeta's eyes widened, his hand flying out to cover where Johanna was gesturing in an attempt to grasp their attention. "What? Why? What about our families? Aren't we going to find them?" He rattled off questions in quick fire succession concerning their wellbeing. Johanna remained still, her jaw clenched and lips set in a firm line. The silence remained for a few moments before Finnick spoke out. "Look, my mom and dad are all the way in Cali, the same as Annie's. As much as I want to I know we sure as hell aren't going half way across the country to find them." He shook his head in resignation, his shoulders slumping and eyes glazing over with unshed tears. Annie rushed to his side, discreetly whispering sweet nothings into his ear as she looped her arm through his.

"Peeta, our families are all the way in Tennessee." Gale sighed, looking pointedly towards Madge and Katniss, and then returned his gaze to Peeta. "Where's the rest of yours?" He cast his gaze downwards, his shoulders slumping as he mumbled "New York."

Johanna exploded. "WHAT?! You want us to go all the way to FUCKING NEW YORK to rescue _your_ FUCKING BROTHERS? That's like the busiest city in the whole of **fucking** America, and you want us to just waltz in there, avoiding the thousands of FUCKING **ZOMBIES** and armed bandits, pluck your brothers off the street and get back out _ALIVE?_" She slammed her hands down onto the front of the truck making the entire vehicle shudder under the force of impact, continuing to rant, rave and curse at Peeta, becoming more rowdy and more mobile by the second. The group was stunned into silence as they witnessed the fright that was a full-blown Johanna outburst.

Finnick quickly intervened when he saw her start towards him, her fists clenched at her sides and knuckles turning white as her right hand gripped the wooden handle of her knife. "Johanna-"  
>"No! Don't you come in here and try to tame me when this <strong>idiot<strong> is so convinced that…" Finnick repeated her name in increasing volume as Johanna continued to yell at the top of her lungs, swearing and storming around "…we just _have _to go save his brothers even though for all we know they're probably already DEAD." Finnick had had enough. He grabbed her by the shoulders holding her in place and bellowed "JOHANNA **FUCKING** MASON shut the HELL up!"

This finally seemed to work as the words died in Johanna's throat and her jaw clenched as she resigned herself to throwing particularly menacing death glares over Finnicks shoulder in Peeta's direction. Finnick lowered his voice "Calm down, Jo. We're not going to New York, no one is going to get eaten, we're going to find our wa-"  
>"I beg to differ." Gale said, his gaze intent on a huddle of figures in the distance. The rest of the group turned to follow his gaze, Peeta rushing back into the car to pull out a worn pair of binoculars. "Woah, there's a lot. But they look like they're moving too fast to be…" Peeta continued his musings silently for a few seconds until Gale took control of the situation. "Annie, pack up the map and everyone get back in the car. I don't know if they are dead or not but I sure as hell am not waiting to find out."<p>

The group worked in synchronisation, Peeta and Katniss clambering into the back, Annie swiftly folding away the map and returning it to its place and the others slid into their designated seats with shocking fluidity. Finnick turned the keys in the engine and the car desperately spluttered to life as if it knew of the danger of the situation and was impatient to escape. The engine roared as Finnick stepped on the accelerator and they began driving into the horde of oncoming bodies. "Shit shit shit" Finnick chanted, quickly turning into reverse as the car spun around. The figures became closer and closer, and as Finnick fiddled around with the reverse two of them managed to run directly into the back of the car, their faces pressed to the glass and hands repeatedly smashing into the back window.

Their mouths twitched and snapped repeatedly, their lifeless eyes were both boring into their souls and looking through them simultaneously. "You might wanna hurry up!" Peeta yelled as they both drew their hands to their knives as their beatings on the glass became faster and more frantic until Finnick finally managed to pull away and the car sped down the dirt track. It took a while for everyone to get settled again, and they continued along the same road until they managed to pull onto the highway again.

"Is everyone alright back there?" Finnick breathed a sigh of relief when he looked in the rear view mirror and saw both Peeta and Katniss nod their heads, though both were still shaken from the experience. "Those ones were fast." Peeta declared, a smile slowly creeping up his cheeks as both Katniss and him broke out into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, rolling around in the glee from having avoided certain death trapped in the back of the car piled high with bags.

"Jeez, lover boy, pipe down." Johanna muttered, feigning disinterest at the hysterics the other two were in. Even those in the front of the car couldn't supress their own smiles, and soon joined in with their own girlish giggles until the whole car was in fits of laughter.

The whole car except Johanna. There seems to be a weird pattern emerging.


	7. Chapter 7: Amazing Grace

**Authors Note:** Thank you so much for all the support to the story so far! It's also kinda turned into a see how many references to canon or the Walking Dead as possible, so have fun spotting the many, many many maaaany references! Thanks for the reviews and views overall, this chapter took a little longer to write but I'll try to be more punctual next time!

The next chapter will be a little more light hearted too, and we're slowly getting there with Joniss! (woop woop!)

(Mini spoiler - the song mentioned is Blackbird by The Beatles!)

Impressively, their hysterics had managed to last a good half hour, and by now they were well on their way to the National Park that Johanna and Finnick dubbed District 7. It had been a tiring day. What seemed like your average weekend had quickly spiraled into a living nightmare, Katniss having had just about had enough of running and being scared to death (though thankfully not literally to death) so resigned to leaning against the rumbling glass once again as she closed her eyes and let sleep wash over her, the sound of small talk from the front accompanying her into a comforting nap.

4 hours later, Katniss startled awake after feeling something solid repeatedly tap the side of her head. She opened her eyes just as she was catapulted towards the window again, this time her forehead smashing into the glass with a loud _thunk_ she was sure the whole car heard. "Owwww, dammit." Katniss hissed, hoping to be quiet, but by the amused expression on Peeta's face she knew she'd failed. He started laughing and foolishly attempted to talk halfway through so his speech came out as stuttered nonsense between giggles. "K-kat… Katnis-sss! Are…" He hiccupped to a stop, seeming to recompose himself. "Are you al-" he spluttered into laughter again. By now the rest of them had joined in, Annie and Madge guiltily placing their hands over their mouths to try and avoid Katniss's burning gaze while the others openly laughed at her.

She sulked in the corner, raising her hand to feel for a bump caused by her less-than-deliberate head bang to music no one could hear. Unluckily for her, it looks like she was going to be the token unicorn of the group as a large lump had already formed smack bang in the middle of her forehead. _Great._ She looked over the seat to see Johanna keeled over in laughter, clutching her sides. _She wasn't laughing earlier. Her sense of humor must only come out when someone gets hurt. Sadistic much. _Katniss sulked. Peeta looked over to her and his smile softened. "Are you alright?" He asked sincerely.

She sighed. Peeta was always so kind, though often times his hyper-consideration made him act like a lost puppy, reluctant to stop following whoever walked by; especially when it came to Katniss. Her classmates always said she should give him a try. He's had a crush on her forever and she was painfully aware (and sometimes freaked out) by how he watched her walk home from school every day. Every. Day.

At first she felt guilty that she didn't return his feelings. She thought something was wrong with her because she couldn't think about him that way, but then resolved that Peeta just wasn't… her type. Thinking about it, Katniss had never really been attracted to anyone that much. After being forced to care for herself, her sister and mother from a young age, she hadn't thought about it. She thought that the crushes her friends had were silly and a waste of time. After all, she was busy running a household, not talking about whether _James has nicer eyes than Paul_ or that _Dylan is sooo dreamy_.

It was only recently that she'd even thought that she herself could have crushes. And by recently, she meant a few hours ago, during a zombie apocalypse after almost being eaten. She quickly changed her train of thought, not liking the direction her mind was taking her. Shaking her head, she uttered "I'm fine Peeta." and sighed again. He still looked concerned, but didn't press any further as Finnick yelled from the front "We're here!" shortly followed by a chorus of whoops and cheers.

They came to a stop in the main car park facing the main building and few parked cars that remained there. Finnick put it in park and got out of the car, Johanna readying her axe and Katniss, after awkwardly scrambling out of the backseats, readied her bow. After the last car door slammed shut, a deadly silence settled. It was strange, shouldn't the birds be singing? Shouldn't there be the occasional bark of a domestic dog?

Shouldn't there be something?

"I don't like the look of that." Katniss murmured, gesturing to the large modern administration center in front of them. The doors were slightly ajar, a flicker of light occasionally flashing through the glass doors, the metal of its framing reflecting distorted images of the scene inside.

There were 5 or 6 cars parked neatly into the white lined spaces, so neatly that if you were looking at them on any day where the dead weren't rising from the grave and trying to maul the living, it would've looked normal. "Let's go check it out. It might have some stuff in it." Johanna shrugged, already waltzing up to the shoulder height window on the wall perpendicular to the main entrance and peering inside. "Sure, Mason, only if I don't have to come to your rescue." Finnick smirked, pulling a crowbar from the back of the car. "I'm gonna search these cars, you going Katnip?" Gale asked, looking pointedly at Katniss. She looked to him, then Finnick, then Johanna and decided that she might as well give it a try. "Might as well." She breathed out slowly, deciding to hand her bow to Gale and pick out a hunting knife and torch out of her backpack before putting the bag in the car.

"We'll be back in a tic!" Johanna waved, sarcastically chipper as she skipped over to the door and yanked it open. It gave way with a loud creak, finally coming loose from its hinges as its left side slumped to the floor. Finnick, Peeta, Johanna and Katniss all made their way into the reception, brandishing kitchen knives and crowbars alike and slowing their footing in an attempt to remain silent. They all were besides Peeta who, no matter how hard he tried, seemed to shake the whole building with each step, his footsteps reverberating around the barren walls. The place looked pretty shredded, loose files and pieces of paper strewn over the floor, the vending machine out of order and the couch cushions of the blue chairs were torn slightly, though there didn't seem to be anyone or anything else in the immediate area.

"Should we split up?" Finnick asked, slightly wary of going it alone as the darkened hallways seemed to grow at the prospect. "The place doesn't look too big" Katniss added "It should only take a few minutes to sweep as a group."  
>"Afraid to leave me, Kitty Kat?" Johanna smirked, brushing past Katniss as she sauntered in front, making quick work of surveying the area before twirling her axe steadily and turning towards Katniss again, her head tilted to the side with a devilish lopsided smirk plastered onto her features. Katniss scowled and held back a scoff, though was thankful that the flickering lights hid her slight blush as Johanna's pristine teeth clung to her bottom lip. She went to answer, but Peeta got there first.<p>

"Can't we just search this place and be done with it?" He questioned, already a little wary as his eyes skittered around the room, alternating between the 2 doorways that led into the corridors and the room that protruded from behind the counter. Johanna shrugged and stood up, Finnick trailing slightly behind her as she paced into the darkened room.

They were out of sight and it was silent. A few minutes passed until Katniss and Peeta slowly inched their way round the doorframe, each creak of their footsteps filling the otherwise dead air. Just as they feared the worst, Finnick and Johanna jumped around the corner, hands flailing and mouths open screeching "**BOO!**" at the tops of their lungs. Katniss and Peeta both jumped backwards and let out terrified screams of their own as they backed up, their backs hitting the counter.

After it all went silent again, Johanna burst out with laughter and Finnick looked like a dying mime as his shoulders jerked up and down, his mouth suspended open as he silently laughed his head off. Peeta and Katniss, however, were the complete opposite. Their faces turned beet red as Katniss loosened her grip on the hunting knife and Peeta scratched the back of his neck, obviously agitated.

Their laughter was cut short by the sound of groans echoing around the doorway to the corridor, and by the sounds of it, there were quite a lot of them. This snapped the chuckling two out of their revelry, and Johanna's head snapped up, her gaze fixed on the blue double doors. She rushed over to it, placing her flashlight on the floor, pushing the doors shut with her whole body as she propped her axe flat against the surface. Finnick and Peeta rushed over to join her, Finnick pushing desperately on the left, Johanna on the right and Peeta in the middle forcing both doors together.

The sound of the moans intensified and fingernails scraped against the doorframe, the sound of bodies slamming against hard wood reverberated around the small reception. "Shit shit shit" Johanna chanted, her face contorting with effort and cheeks pinking as she shoved the door back. Katniss watched on in shock until Johanna's eyes settled on her. "Shit, we're going to have to-"she stopped to slam herself back into the door again as a hand had managed to sneak through the gap between the doors and clawed at her skinny jeans, until the hand severed and flopped to the floor with the force of her shove, what sounded like an anguished grumble emanating from whomever the hand belonged to.

"Katniss, we're going to let them out one at a time and you and Pee-shit! You and Peeta've got to kill 'em!" Katniss nodded dumbly and turned her attention towards the door, clutching her hunting knife. Peeta pushed away from the doors to join her, readying his kitchen knife as Finnick whipped his head around to look between the pair and Johanna. "Ready? On 3," Finnick muttered. "1...2…3!" They turned away from the doorframe, dragging the door open and keeping their backs pressed into it to restrict the tide of undead on the other side.

A particularly scraggly looking woman, most likely in her late-twenties, stumbled out, her once green one piece dress drenched in blood and gore, dyed a deathly black. She lunged at Finnick until he slammed his back into the doors once more to seal them shut and kicked her in the stomach, launching her into the middle of the room. He nodded, Katniss taking the initiative to reach forward and slam the blade of her knife through the top of the woman's skull. It gave way with a nauseous crack, blood coating Katniss's hand and spraying onto her clothing before she yanked her knife out again, the woman's body crumpling to the floor.

Peeta dragged the finally dead corpse away a few feet before they nodded again, releasing other infected as they took it in turns putting them down. "Shit-" She muttered "That looks like fun. Feel like trading?" Johanna smirked, though the strain of holding back dozens of undead had finally taken its toll as her muscles quivered with effort and beads of sweat rolled down her face. Johanna and Finnick rolled off the door and Katniss and Peeta took their place, slowly clearing the undead out as the pile of bodies at the side grew.

They continued on like this for what seemed like hours, but must've been minutes, taking them down one by one until the last straggler; a small schoolgirl whose fingers, even in death, still clung to her leather satchel finally bumbled out of the now blood red hallway. Her gait slowed as she looked between the 4 of them, seemingly confused about who to attack first. Her dirtied blonde hair swept into her eyes and her twin braids whipped around her face, flinging clotted blood free from the now rough plaits. Finnick slung his arm over his face to hide behind his forearm as Katniss and Peeta looked to the floor, Johanna staring blankly at the girls lifeless eyes.

"Fuck no. Not kids. Come on, not fucking kids." Finnick trailed off, his eyes slowly roaming up the body, taking in its full attire. Polished black school shoes led up to the knee-high hem of a blue checkered dress, finally coming to rest on the school logo emblazoned on the left of her stained white cardigan, a sticky nametag that read "Grace" half hung off of her right. Her arms raised and hands clawed at the air as its speed picked up, ambling towards Finnick until Johanna's axe came to rest in the side of its skull. Peeta stared dumbfounded at the body now on the floor for a moment until speaking, his eyes bleary and voice monotone.

"I don't think I'm up for a supply run anymore." He turned and made his way back to the parking lot, Finnick following shortly behind, leaving Katniss and Johanna alone in the now ruined reception. Johanna was pacing up and down in a small line, wiping her hands off on her jeans before running them through her hair, blowing out a large breath through her lips set in a firm line. Katniss was too distracted by the body to notice the tears pooling in her own eyes until she felt a rogue droplet roll down her cheek.

The girl looked like Prim.

She frantically wiped at her cheek, making sure she didn't look a mess before turning to follow the boys out. Finnick, Annie and Peeta were stood by the range rover talking quietly among themselves as Madge and Gale went through the open cars looking for any loot. Katniss awkwardly made her way around the building before leaning back against the cold brick wall and staring up at the sky.

"Are you alright?" Johanna asked, cleaning her already clean axe as if it would erase the memory; wash away what it had just done. Wash away what was happening. Katniss didn't answer, only shrugged and returned her gaze to the trees in the distance, lost in thought. Johanna leant beside her on the wall, continuing to clean her axe until she became impatient and threw it to her side with a huff before crossing her arms over her chest.

Katniss tried to ignore the way her heartbeat sped up, or how her hands became clammy at their close proximity. For some reason Johanna could make her forget all about what she'd just witnessed and focus on the way her forearms flexed as she tucked her hands securely underneath her arms, or how her hip jutted out slightly as she swung one leg over the other and indignantly looked towards the others. She let her gaze wander to Johanna's face, taking in every detail from her soft arched eyebrows to her perfectly pointed chin.

Lost in thought gazing at Johanna's clear complexion, she was snapped back to reality when she heard a soft chuckle come from beside her. "You gonna stand there and ogle me all day, brainless?" Laughing, Johanna pushed off the wall and started walking over towards the car until she stopped and turned towards Katniss. "We'd better get back, Kitty Kat." She crooned, offering her hand for Katniss to take. Katniss looked back up at her blankly, her cheeks colouring a faint pink until she snapped back to reality and pushed past Johanna's outstretched arm. Johanna let out a low chuckle before following behind Katniss, making casual note of the way her hips swung with each carefully placed step, but judging by the way Gale was looking at her, she hadn't exactly been casual. She shrugged off his disapproving glare before turning her attention to Madge.

"You guys think we should set up camp? It'll get dark soon." She reasoned, looking to Finnick for approval - he was essentially the charismatic leader of the group. "So long as it's far away from here, then we'll be good." Gale looked at him questioningly, before Johanna added "A major road is only a twenty minute drive away, and I don't intend on welcoming anyone, dead or alive, into the group while we're sleeping." She looked around at Finnick, trying to see whether she'd done right by not mentioning what had happened. It seemed to have worked as Finnick regained his usual showy charm, though she could still see the pain behind his eyes. "Let's have a camp out!" He cheered, ushering everyone into their seats before pulling down a worn dirt path further into the woods.

They drove for a good 10 minutes or so before finding a small clearing with a worn fire pit and overhanging ancient tree that they determined would be the best place to set up camp. Finnick parked the car and they all climbed out once again, Katniss and Gale setting to work lighting a fire and Madge and Peeta preparing to cook dinner on the new flame. Annie and Finnick talked quietly while setting up for the night while Johanna set to chopping up some loose lumber she found by the side of the dirt track with her axe.

They worked in a subdued atmosphere; only the sound of occasional quiet conversation and the steady thud of Johanna's axe broke the pastoral dusk air, the sun engorged in muted orange and descending low over the horizon. The last rays of sunlight bounced through the remaining autumn foliage and the gentle whisper of the twilight breeze whistled through the otherwise bare tendrils. Before long they had several cans of beans heating up on the open flame, a squirrel that Katniss found skewering on Gale's makeshift spit. As the sun finally slipped below the skyline, they gathered around the fire and sat on the worn limb of a great oak tree that protruded from their open camp/

It was dark now, their faces shimmering in the firelight as the moon was yet to rise and few stars had made their appearance. They shared the 3 cans of beans between them, each taking turns to have a mouthful before passing it along to the next person, ready to receive the next can. As Katniss moved to check that the squirrel was cooked, Johanna made her way over to Finnick's car and pulled a large black case off of the top. She pulled down the zip and brought her newfound implement to the fireplace, sitting opposite the rest of them on a large tree stump.

It was a guitar. An old and worn acoustic, though it looked well loved. Its body was newly varnished; the soft beige front reflecting the flickering flames in its pristine work. The neck was sleek and led up to a russet headstock, its frame resting on Johanna's leg as she tweaked the strings, strumming occasionally to check for its tune, her fingers splaying over the well-used strings. Once satisfied, she let her hands glide over the instrument briefly before she began to play a soft melody.

She tapped her foot to the beat, the palm of her hand gently tapping on the face along with the beat as she began to play the familiar tune of _'Blackbird'_ by The Beatles. The rich melody flitted through the air, its velvety textures dancing along with the breeze as the steady tap of her hand and foot continued through the mellow tune.

Katniss looked up with intrigue to see Johanna gazing directly into the fire, her green orbs capturing each candescent ray turning them a soft hazel-green hue. She looked younger, more innocent with the fire flickering against her hard jawline. She looked as if minutes ago her hatchet hadn't been buried in the skull of a dead schoolgirl. Her eyes were glazed over with what looked to be tears, but before anyone could tell, she opened her mouth and started to sing.

_Blackbird singing in the dead of night,  
>Take these broken wings and learn to fly.<br>All your life,  
>you were only waiting for this moment to arise.<em>

Everyone's eyes were on her, having stopped eating to tap their feet along with the tune or close their eyes to the music. The harrowing melody continued through the forest, the woody strings picking up a stronger tune as Johanna closed her eye. Her voice was angelic. It was smooth and gentle, clear and pure and yet somehow still tinged with the pain she was trying to banish with song. Her voice was surely an angels, dipping between the highs and lows with expert precision, gentle tones light and airy in the cold autumn night.

_Blackbird singing in the dead of night,  
>Take these sunken eyes and learn to see.<br>All your life,  
>you were only waiting for this moment to be free.<em>

_Blackbird fly  
>Blackbird fly<br>Into the light of the dark black night_

Katniss was in awe, her mouth slightly agape as she too was absorbed into the song. She was so in tune with the song that she didn't realise her own voice was joining in the next verse.

As she began to sing along, Johanna opened her eyes and gazed directly into Katniss's own. Their voices matched perfectly, Katniss's taking on a slightly higher pitch as the girls harmonized the lyrics, both reluctant to look away from each other as they reached the last verse.

_Blackbird singing in the dead of night,  
>Take these broken wings and learn to fly.<br>All your life,  
>You were only waiting for this moment to arise.<br>You were only waiting for this moment to arise._

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise._

Their voices faded away to nothing as the song ended with the last flourish from Johanna's guitar, though neither girl looked away. It was like their eyes were fixed on each other's, drawn by an invisible magnetism holding both their gazes together, neither wanting or willing to break free. In that moment, when the light flickered through Johanna's eyes and a loose tear swelled to the edge of her eye, Katniss's world slowed as Johanna's mouth rose into the first genuine smile she had ever seen from her, her eyes crinkling at the edges and a light not caused by the fire flashed behind her green orbs.

She understood now.


End file.
